Headlight-lamp.



No. 807,796. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. H. P. WELLMAN.

HEADLIGHT LAMP.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 26. 1905.

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mm/human 7 W atrouwg No. 807,796. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905.

H. P. WBLLMAN.

HEADLIGHT LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.26.1905. N. A

2 SHEETS-SHBET 24 5 wuc 11 15cm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HEADLIGHT-LAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed January 26, 1905- Serial No. 4 .77

1'0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARLAN P. WELLMAN, of Ashland, in the county of Boyd and State'of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Headlight-Lamps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The objects of this invention are, first, to so construct an electric headlight-lamp as to permit of its being readily and easily transferred from point to point, as from one end of a car to another, by one or two persons, enabling it also to be more readily and easily positioned on the car-dash; secondly, to provide improved means for indicating, through the agency of the headlight, the route of the car and the name of the operating company or the like when traveling through city streets and yet permit of the unobstructed use of the headlight in interurban or open country travel, provision being made for guarding against all danger of accidental movement of the movable parts when thrown open to permit of the unobstructed use of the headlight, and, thirdly, to enable the dimmer-door to be readily removed from and applied to the lampcasing.

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation showing a portion of a cardash with the dimmer-door open. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the dimmer-door. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the lamp-casing with the dimmer-door open. Fig. 3 is a detail. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the lamp-casing with the dimmer-door closed. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the main-door frame. Fig. 6 is a side view showing the hinges of both the main door and dimmer-door. Fig. 7 is a similar view, and Fig. 8 a sectional view, of the hinges embodying a slight modification.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the casing of an electric headlight-lamp which is designed to be suspended from the front of a car-dash. V

2 2 designate two handles running longitudinally of the lamp-casing, to which they are secured at their ends, the two handles being parallel and located at the top of the casing equidistant from the longitudinal center thereof. At their centers these handles are formed with eyes or openings 3 to accommodate the ends of a bail 4, which extends transversely of the lamp-casing, across the top thereof, and at or about the center of gravity of the lampcasing when the same is held suspended by the bail. The latter at its center carries an ordinary revoluble handpiece 5, preferably of wood. It is obvious that the lamp may be manipulated by one person by grasping the bail 4 and may be readily carried from point to point, as from one end of the car to the other, without difliculty, being in perfect balance. Two persons may with equal facility handle the headlight by grasping the two sta tionary handles 2. Thus it will be seen that provision is made for positioning and transferring the lamp-casing by either one or two persons and that but little difiiculty is experienced by one person handling the lamp by reason of the bail being at the center of gravity.

6 designates the glass door, whose frame 7 is hinged at one side of the lamp-casing and preferably locked at the other side by a suspended pin 8, so as to entirely inclose the outer end of the reflector 9. Frame 7 has hinging arms 10, which are secured by a hollow pin tle 12 to lamp-casing 1, such pintle being passed through arms 12 of the latter and provided with a flange which rests on the upper arm 10.

13 designates what I term a dimmer-door, designed to extend over and cover the glass door 6 when the car is passing through city or urban districts, such door entirely obliterating the light of the lamp save at one or more points where means are employed for indicating the route or direction of the car and the name of the operating line. This dimmer-door is preferably made of metal or other material and has at one side arms 14:, which are hinged at the same center as the glass doorthat is to say, a headed bolt 15, passed centrally through pintle 12, enables both doors to turn from a common point. When it is desired to remove the dimmerdoor, it is only necessary to withdraw bolt 15, leaving the main door hinged on its pintle. The eye of the upper arm 14 has a squared elongation and is also formed with a thick ened portion 16, having opposite flat sides, against one or the other of which bears a plate-spring 17, secured to casing 1 for holding the dimmer-door firmly in either of its two positions-that is to say, either tightly over the glass door 6 or open at an angle of about forty-five degrees, as shown in Fig. 3. The

ring, each of the hinging arms 14 carries a rubber bumper 18, which is designed to contact with the side of the lamp-casing when the dimmer-door is thrown open.

At the center of the dimmer-door is a circular opening and a surrounding pocket or receptacle 19, designed to receive a glass plate 20, which fits over the central opening. This distance.

plate may be of any desired color, such as red or green, to indicate the route of the car, and being located in line with the focal point of the light may be readily distinguished at a This colored glass plate may be left out, or a clear one may be substituted, whereby the light of the arc will show through the small opening. To strengthen the dimmer-door, the same is formed with transverse ribs 21, as shown in Fig. 2, such ribs connecting the pocket 19 with the door-frame.

In the dimmer-door, preferably above and below the center thereof, are cut the letters indicating the name of the operating company; but it is obvious that the route or destination of the car may be thus indicated, if desired. Over the spaces occupied by this lettering I place on the inner side of the dim mer-door sections 22 of transparent or translucent material, so as to partly screen the arclight and prevent its reflecting strong rays, which would interfere with the reading of the sign. This transparent covering may also be of any desired color, This lettering and the transparent sections may be omitted, if desired.

It will be understood that the dimmer-door is used only when the car is passing through city streets, and then it clearly indicates the route or direction and at the same time avoids the use of too strong a headlight, the greater part of the arc-rays being hidden from general view, and the light is seen only through the central colored screen and the transparent material back of the sign-letters. The dimmer-door when closed over acts as a protection to the glass door 6, thereby preventing breakage of the same in the careless handling of the headlight. When the dimmer-door is closed over, it is not only retained in place by the spring 17, but also, preferably, by suspended pin 23. The opening and closing of the dimmer-door is preferably efiiected by a key-handle 24, engaging the upper squared portion of the upper arm 14. It is obvious, however, that the door may be opened by grasping a knob 25.

It will be understood that in interurban traflic the dimmer-door is opened and occupies a position of about forty-five degrees, as shown in Fig. 3, thus allowing the full rays of the arc to be projected forward of the car.

The advantages of my invention are apparent to those skilled in the art. Although I have described what appears to me to be the best way of carrying out my improvement, yet I do not restrict myself thereto, since changes or modifications may be made without departing from the scope of my invention. It might be noted that instead of having the dimmer-door and the glass door of the lamp swing from a common point the dimmer-door may be hinged from some other point around the periphery of the casing; but it is preferable for many reasons to have both doors hinged at a single point.

1 claim as my invention 1. An electric headlight-lamp having two handles extended along the opposite sides of the casing to which they are secured at their ends, the longitudinal portions of such handles being spaced away from the casing so as to provide separate handholds, and a bail extended transversely of the casing at the center of gravity thereof and secured at its ends to the centers of said handles.

2. An electric headlight-lamp having, in combination, a casing, a door-frame hinged to said casing at one s1de thereof, transparent glass in such door-frame, a second door-frame hinged coaxially with the first-mentioned door-frame and designed to extend over the latter, non-transparent material carried by said second door-frame having words or letters formed therein, translucent material in rear of such words or letters, and means for holding the second door-frame in each of its extreme positions.

3. An electric headlight-lamp having, in combination, a casing, a door-frame hinged to said casing at one side thereof, transparent glass in such door-frame, a second door-frame hinged coaxially with the firstmentioned door-frame and designed to extend over the latter, non-transparent material carried by said second door-frame, an opening at the center of said second door-frame, a removable glass section designed to fit over said opening, and means for holding said second door-frame in each of its extreme positions.

4. An electric headlight-lamp having, in combination, a casing, a door-frame hinged thereto at one side thereof and carrying transparent glass therein, a second door-frame hinged coaxially with said first-mentioned door-frame over which latter it is designed to extend, said second door-frame carrying nontransparent material therein, means for removably hinging said first-mentioned doorframe to said casing, and separate means for removably hinging said second door-frame coaxially with said first-mentioned door-frame,

and a plate-spring secured to said casing for engaging said second door-frame for holding it in each of its extreme positions.

5. An electric headlight-lamp having, in combination, a casing having hinging arms at one side, a door-frame also having hinging arms, both sets of hinging arms having openings, a hollow pintle passed through the coincident openings of both sets of hinging arms, transparent glass carried by said door 4 frame, a second door-frame having hinging arms formed with openings designed to coincide with the openings of the aforementioned sets of hinging arms, a removable bolt passed through said pintle for securing the hinging arms of the second door-frame, non-transparent material carried by said second 'doorframe, and a spring-plate secured to said casing for engaging one of the arms of said second door-frame for holding the latter in each of its two extreme positions.

6. An electric headlight-lamp having, in combination, a casing having hinging arms at one side, a door-frame also having hinging arms, both sets of hinging arms having openings, a hollow pintle passed through the coincident openings of both sets of hinging arms, transparent glass carried by said doorframe, a second door-frame having hinging arms formed with openings designed to coincide with the openings of the aforementioned sets of hinging arms, one of the arms of said second door-frame having opposite flat sides, a removable bolt passed through said pintle for securing the hinging arms of the second door-frame, non-transparent material carried by said second door-frame, and aspring-plate secured to said casing for engaging said flat sides of one of the arms of the second doorframe for holding the latter in each of its two extreme positions.

7 The combination with the lamp-casing and the reflector, of the door-frame having transparent glass therein, a second door-frame designed to extend over the first door-frame, non-transparent material in said second doorframe having an opening at its center in line with the focal point of the reflector, and a glass section removably secured in said second door-frame over said opening in front of the non-transparent material.

8. The combination with the lamp-casing and the reflector, of the door-frame, transparent glass therein, a second door-frame designed to extend over the first door-frame, non-transparent material in said second doorframe having an opening at its center in line with the focal point of the reflector, an open top pocket or receptacle surrounding such opening, ribs connecting such pocket to said second door-frame, and a removable glass section designed to fit in said pocket.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' HARLAN P. WELLMAN.

Witnesses:

W. G. RICHARDSON, R. O. FISHER. 

